Speed Reads

Stats of our lives

Stats of our lives: So long, CDs?

Digital music outsells CDs for the first time — and more in our collection of surprising facts and figures

50.3
Percent of 2011 music sales that came from digital downloads — the first time digital beat CDs, according to Nielsen/Billboard

8.5
Percent increase in digital music sales, to 1.27 billion tracks

5
Percent drop in physical CD sales, to 228 million albums

Source: TIME